Southwest Books of the Year
Bill Broyles Picks 
Arizona Breeding Bird Atlas
At a hefty 7.5 pounds, this extraordinary book is not a portable field guide, but it can guide you afield to where the birds nest. This ambitious Arizona Game and Fish Department 10-year project sent hundreds of researchers into the far corners and canyons of Arizona to document 270 species of nesting birds. The observations reveal much about birds, their lives, and where to find them. This atlas ranks among the best bird books of all time and is indispensable for anyone at all interested in Arizona birds.
Biology of Gila Monsters and Beaded Lizards
Gila Monsters—“symbols” of the desert Southwest—have changed little in the past 23 million years, making them “living fossils.” These venomous reptiles spend about 96% of their lives underground, but are so beautiful and unique that people instantly recognize them. Expert Dan Beck thoroughly covers what is known, or needs to be known, about these monstersaurs. Personal stories are woven with authoritative studies and engaging photos to give us an enlightening and interesting account. This is now the standard text on Gila Monsters and Mexican Beaded Lizards.
Cacti of the Trans-Pecos & Adjacent Areas
With 76 species and 33 varieties the Trans-Pecos of Texas is one of the most cactus-rich regions of the U.S. (Arizona has similar numbers). After clear and up-to-date preliminary chapters covering cactus biology, biogeography, uses, and conservation, each species is described, along with its botanical history. Sixty-four maps plot distribution of the species, and 313 color photos help identify them. This will be the standard reference for decades to come. See you in Sanderson, the official cactus capitol of Texas.
Documents of the Coronado Expedition, 1539–1542: "They Were Not Familiar with His Majesty, nor Did They Wish to Be His Subjects"
The Coronado Expedition in 1539-1542 changed the history of the Southwest. This book is rich in history, ethnology, ecology, geography and sociology. It contains 34 primary documents in Spanish, each ably introduced, translated, and annotated. Much is of human interest: one early narrator reported meeting Native Americans in New Mexico who “are a kind people and are not violent. They hold faithfully to friendship.” A milestone in Southwest scholarship and discussion.
Navajoland: A Native Son Shares His Legacy
Navajo photographer LeRoy DeJolie takes us to his Four Corners homeland and leaves us breathless with its magnificent scenery, hidden places, and many stories. Where we see San Francisco Peaks, he sees “Where the Snow Never Melts.” He takes us to other sacred peaks bounding his homeland: Hesperus Mountain and Blanca Peak in Colorado, and Mount Taylor in New Mexico. DeJolie compares creating photos to crafting raw silver and turquoise into fine “jewelry.” In this comparison, his book is sterling.
Slavery, Scandal, and Steel Rails: The 1854 Gadsden Purchase and the Building of the Second Transcontinental Railroad Across Arizona and New Mexico Twenty-Five Years Later
This saga of how Arizona got its first railroad in 1877 starts with slaveholder states looking for a rail link to California (the purpose of the Gadsden Purchase), and Arizona looking for a way to export minerals, cattle, and timber. The grades were steep and curvy, but brash entrepreneurs, including Leland Stanford, laid the rails. This intriguing book is tightly edited and thoroughly documented. The notes are an archive in themselves. A very solid, readable contribution.
Sonoita Plain: Views from a Southwestern Grassland
The Bocks have studied the biology of a research ranch southeast of Tucson. They show us a beautiful countryside, introduce friendly people, and by the last page remind us that people and nature can—and must—live in harmony. Their message of science-based stewardship should be required reading for citizens who vote, and land planners. The text is thoughtfully and skillfully told—darned near lyric in places—as the Bocks combine ecology with a sense of home. Photos add reasons to visit the book and Sonoita’s beautiful grasslands.
Voice of the Borderlands
Borderland rancher Drum Hadley poetically remembers good horses, bad men, and long-gone women. He has an ear for the language of cowboys and vaqueros, American and Mexican. From his lifetime of saddles, campfires, fiestas, and sitting on the corral fence, he has gathered and created yarns, images, and stories that he pencils into poems grouped as “Cowboys and Horses,” “Mother Lode,” “Changes,” and “Eternity.” He always returns to mythic land and abrupt lives. His voice echoes cowhands along the border from Mexicali to the Rio Grande.
About Bill Broyles